68 FOREST OUTINGS 



State Forests are generally more extensive in area and less intensively 

 developed than State parks, which are usually small protected areas of 

 natural beauty. Problems of recreational use and resource management in 

 State forests and national forests are similar. 



Public parks, whether local, State, or national, are as a rule devoted 

 exclusively to recreational use. Commodity utilization of timber, grass, 

 minerals, game, and water is not allowed. This is the single-use principle. 

 Public forests, on the other hand, generally allow managed use of commer- 

 cial timber, forage, water, and mineral resources, with recreation accorded 

 its proper place. And individual uses, including recreation, are given 

 exclusive place on limited areas. This is the principle of multiple use. 



State forests antedate national forests. In State forests operated for mul- 

 tiple use there are now some 13% million acres. In the Lakes States, where 

 large areas of cut-over and once wrecked forest land have been acquired by 

 the States through tax forfeiture, State forests are especially important. 

 The New England States, New York, and Pennsylvania are also well repre- 

 sented with State forests; and in the West — Idaho, Montana, and Washing- 

 ton have moved toward consolidating through exchange with the Federal 

 Government the remnants of their grant lands. Nation-wide, almost 750 

 different State forest units are scattered over 39 States. These units average 

 much smaller than national forests or national parks do, but many of them 

 are strategically located close to large population centers. 



East and West, to speak generally, State forests receive less attention as 

 places of recreation than do State parks; but many of the State forests have 

 high local value as pleasure places. Almost universally the States have 

 opened these forests and their facilities to the public. Approximately 28 

 million persons visited these State forests in the last year for which figures 

 are available, but it seems likely that still heavier loads of forest visitors 

 will come as time goes on. 



Concentrations of people, whether in cities or in open forest country, bring 

 problems that are not easily solved. As a result of the more intensive recrea- 

 tional use of the lands under their direction, State foresters find themselves 

 faced with situations comparable to those on national forests. Even with the 

 combined efforts of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the State forestry 



